Study Of Children’s Fantasy Narrative In Maurice Sendak’s Picture Book Trilogy

Maurice Sendak is a famous contemporary American picture book author.He was awarded the Hans Christian Andersen Award for his special contribution to the field of picture books in 1970.Sendak has designed and illustrated about 80 children’s books in his life,of which he has written and illustrated about 20 books by himself.From 1964 to 1982,his works WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE,IN THE NIGHT KITCHEN and OUTSIDE OVER THERE had won Caldecott Award three times.Sendak himself also showed a preference for these three works,calling them Trilogy.The trilogy has a similar plot,describing the children in real life frustrated,in the face of anxiety consciously use the form of fantasy,mental escape in imagination,played a emotional release,self-repair effect.Trilogy is also an artistic representation of Sendak’s early traumatic experiences.In the creation,Sendak changed the narrative structure of his early experiences,released his repressed emotions and achieved the purpose of self-healing through fantasy narration.The thesis consists of three parts: introduction,text and conclusion.The introduction mainly introduces Sendak and his picture book creation,discusses the research status of this topic,and clarifies the significance of studying the fantasy narrative in Sendak’s Trilogy.The text includes three chapters.The first chapter summarizes the objects of Sendak’s fantasy narrative in the Trilogy.Starting from the concept of archetypes,the archetypes in the Trilogy are summarized into three types: hero,shape-changer and shadow.The second chapter analyzes the mode of fantasy narration in the Trilogy,and uses the mode of Hero’s Journey developed by screenwriter theorist Christopher Vogler to make a comparative analysis of the narration in the Trilogy.The plot of Trilogy can use the normal world,adventure call,crossing the first frontier,test,approaching the deepest cave,tribulation,reward,the way back,resurrection,return with the universal cure narrative model.The third chapter analyzes the relationship between Sendak’s early trauma and his later literary creation.Sendak realizes from his own experience that fantasy is of great significance to children’s survival,and fantasy,as well as the art form itself presented in the end,are the power of children’s survival.The fourth chapter,from the perspective of literary therapy,Outlines the transformation of the theory of literary therapy and the object of treatment,Outlines the relationship between Sendak’s creation and his psychoanalytic treatment,and specifically analyzes how the shadows of kidnapping and death that haunt Sendak’s life are turned over through specific artistic treatment from the In that Far Away Place.Starting from Beast Country and Midnight Kitchen,this paper analyzes how the traumatic experiences of being threatened and eaten by relatives and consumed by anger in childhood are transformed through fantasy narration and artistic expression.It also explores the positive effects of Sendak’s picture books on parent-child co-reading,the cultivation of children’s imagination,emotional cognition and emotional catharsis.The conclusion hopes to make more people realize the depth and richness of children’s spiritual world,pay attention to children’s mental health,realize the importance of picture book reading,and call on more parents to accompany their children through the childhood life which is not easy through parent-child reading together through the analysis of the fantasy narrative in Sendak’s "trilogy".